Spring & Summer Recipes

All of these use few dishes while being both affordable on a college budget and easy to make!

Written by Abigail Jarvis

Here are some of my personal favorite recipes for spring and summer. All of these use few dishes while being both affordable on a college budget and easy to make!

Syd’s Simple Summer Pasta

A hometown favorite of mine, my friend Sydney likes to make this for all of our friends.

Ingredients:

• angel hair pasta

• 1 avocado

• olive oil (for cooking garlic)

• 3-4 cloves of garlic

• basil, finely chopped

• 16 oz. of cherry tomatoes, halved

• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Boil the pasta in water (follow box instructions). While you’re making pasta, brown the garlic in olive oil on low to medium heat.

2. Once the garlic is browned turn the heat to a simmer, or off if you need more time to cook your pasta.

3. Put tomatoes and avocado in the garlic and olive oil mixture.

4. Finish by putting finely chopped basil in the tomato-avocado-garlic-olive oil mixture.

5. Put the pasta in your large bowl, and add the tomato-avocado-garlic-olive oil mixture on top.

6. Salt & Pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Notes:

- The proportions of this are really easy to adjust. Read box instructions for pasta, adjust produce from there.

- For extra bougie cherry tomatoes, halve them. Then lightly fry them in some of your remaining olive oil on the stove.

- Parmesan, mozzarella, or any grated cheese of your choice would be awesome on top.

- Use leftover cheese and tomatoes in omelets.

- Would be a yummy side dish next to chicken or fish!

Sweet and Sour Tofu Recipe (Vegan)

By Jessica Hylton

This recipe is from jessicainthekitchen.com with permission from Jessica Hylton. Jessica specializes in food blogging and vegan recipes. To learn how to press tofu, get more recipes, and to find nutrition information, visit Jessica’s website. I am looking forward to trying this vegan dish this summer!

Ingredients:

Crispy Tofu:

• 1 16 oz. block of firm or extra firm tofu (pressed, and torn into 1- to 2-inch pieces)

• 1 tbsp. soy sauce (gluten-free if needed, or liquid aminos or tamari)

• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

• 1/3 cup cornstarch

• 1/4 cup oil for frying

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 1/2 cup sugar (I use cane sugar, but you can use brown or any granulated)

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1/4 cup vinegar (preferably rice or white)

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 tbsp. soy sauce (gluten-free if needed, or liquid aminos or tamari)

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 medium bell pepper, chopped

• 1/2 cup chopped/cubed pineapple

• 1/2 medium red onion chopped

• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds for garnish

• chopped scallion for garnish

Instructions

Crispy Tofu

1. In a medium-sized bowl, place the pressed and torn tofu pieces. Add the soy sauce and toss to coat. Add in the garlic powder, sea salt, ground black pepper and cornstarch and toss to thoroughly combine, ensuring all the tofu pieces are covered with the seasonings and the cornstarch.

2. Heat a pan or wok over medium-high heat, and add the oil. When hot, add the tofu and toss to crisp up on all sides until the tofu is cooked and crisped on all sides, about 5 to 8 minutes. Feel free to do this in batches if desired. Remove tofu pieces and set aside.

Sweet and Sour Sauce + Putting it All Together

1. In the same pan, lower the heat to over medium-high heat, and add in the onions, pineapples and bell peppers.

2. Saute until the onions are translucent and the pineapples are slightly browned, about 5 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, ketchup, vinegar, water, soy sauce, and garlic powder for the sweet and sour sauce and stir together until fully combined.

4. Pour in the sauce over the veggies. Add back in the crisped up tofu, and stir to combine. Bring to a slight boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened up. Taste test and add more sugar or soy sauce if you desire. Remove from heat until needed.

5. Remove from heat and top with sesame seeds and chopped scallions. Serve and enjoy!

Peach Lemonade

I made this last summer and haven't stopped thinking about it since! You can make this drink just as is, make it into homemade Arnold Palmer, or use it as a base for a cocktail.

Ingredients:

-4 cups of water (divided)

-2 medium peaches

- 1 cup of sugar

-¾ cup of lemon juice (ideally fresh squeezed, but bottled is fine!)

Instructions:

1. Start by bringing 2 cups of water, the chopped peaches, and sugar to a boil.

2. Reduce the heat, cover pot with lid and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until the peaches are tender.

3. Remove from heat when peaches are soft. Cool and strain the simple syrup you’ve created from the soft peaches.

4. In a large pitcher combine the peach simple syrup, lemon juice and last 2 cups of water.

5. Adjust lemon juice and sugar to personal preference. Serve over ice, or chill for two hours to enjoy.

Notes:

-Mix with plain black tea, peach black tea, or peach-ginger black tea to make your own peach Arnold Palmer. For every 8 oz of lemonade, use one black tea bag.

-For an extra strong lemonade, zest your lemons and stir into the mix.

-Serve your sugary peach chunks over vanilla ice cream for